Gita Acharan

Krishna mentioned that four types of devotees worship him; to remove their difficulties (artah) , to attain success (artharthi) , to obtain knowledge (jignashu) and a jnani (wise) (7.16). He elaborates about the jnani and says that the jnani who is nitya-yukta (ever steadfast) with single pointed devotion is the best among all devotees. I am extremely dear to jnani and he is dear to me (7.17). At the end of the many janma (births), the man of wisdom reaches Me (7.19).  Many ' janma ' is usually interpreted that we should go through many births to become the jnani though there appears to be no reason for this. Another interpretation would bring clarity by taking ' janma ' as a generic word rather than specific to the creation of our physical body. It can be ' janma ' of a situation or circumstance around us which is a continuous process. These can be favourable or painful but all of them have the potential to teach us and it is about how quickl...

  Existence is the coherence of manifested (man) and un-manifested (paramatma) . Basic interactions happen at a man to man level with disregard to paramatma ; Krishna termed this as the path of demons (7.15). The next level of interaction is between man and paramatma . This transition starts as one gets tired of chasing mirages or is vexed by misery.  In this regard, Krishna says these interactions or worship between man and paramatma are of four types. The first category of worshippers want to remove their difficulties, the second want to attain wealth, success or peace of mind, the third want to attain knowledge and the fourth are Jnani (wise) (7.16).  He says that the first three, who are otherwise deprived of wisdom, approach different forms (Gods) to fulfil their desires (7.20). This is like consulting the concerned doctor based on ailments. He further says that when they worship with shraddha (trust with commitment), he (Krishna) makes that shraddha ...

Krishna described his higher nature (para-prakruti) which is the life-element beyond the three gunas . His lower nature (apara-prakruti) consists of eight elements viz. fire, earth, water, air, space, mind, intellect and ahankaar which is under the hypnotic spell of the gunas . While the former (higher nature) is referred to as the un-manifested which is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, the latter (lower nature) as manifested which is limited in many ways.  For easy understanding, man can be taken as manifested and paramatma as un-manifested which is beyond senses. The first level of interaction is between man and man which is the result of our identification with the manifested; the next level being between man and paramatma . At the man to man level, things and resources are scarce like water in a puddle whereas it's like the ocean at paramatma's level. The mind which is trained to compare keeps constantly comparing what we have and what others have i...

Krishna mentioned about three gunas (characteristics) which are born of prakriti (nature) and all of us are made to perform different karmas (actions) in different ways by them (3.5). In reality, all karmas are performed by gunas (3.27) and these karmas are nothing but the interactions between gunas . Satva guna is the attachment to knowledge and being poise; rajo guna is the attachment to action and tamas leads to ignorance and laziness. In this regard, Krishna further says, "All the manifestations of Satva, Tamo and Rajo gunas emerge from me. Though they are in Me, I am not in them" (7.12).  This paradoxical verse can be understood with the metaphor of clouds and sky where the clouds are in the sky but the sky is not in the clouds and the clouds can't exist without the sky. It's like waves being in the ocean but the ocean is not in the waves. He further elaborates that deluded by the three modes of nature, mortal beings are unable to know Me a...

Krishna described his param prakriti (higher nature) as the 'life element' which supports the universe (7.5) and gives the example of the string which supports the gems to form a beautiful ornament (7.7). He gives some more examples of the same leading to varied interpretations.  While describing 'life element', Krishna earlier said, "none knows 'this' at all even though many describe it in many ways" (2.29). 'None' stands for someone who is trying to understand 'this' through Indriyas (senses) whereas the 'life element' is beyond the senses. This fact needs to be kept in mind to understand the following verses where he describes 'life element'. He says, "I am the ras in the water, the light in the Sun and the Moon, the sacred syllable pranvaakshar (Om) in the Vedas, the sound in space, and the manliness in man" (7.8). Ras is commonly interpreted as taste and sapidity, but both fall short of it...